mantras, yantras for a newby

[Guest guest]

Let me restate my question more directly.

 

I am new to Shakti Sadhana. My desire is to know and love Mahadevi more deeply. Can

anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices, e.g. meditations with particular

mantras and/or yantras, that are safe, effective, and appropriate for a newby who is not

under the guidance of a guru?

 

PS: I'm so thrilled to have found this group! I'm thrilled to know there are other people --

even other men! -- out there who love the Great Goddess as much as I do, or more, and who

aren't afraid to say so.

[Guest guest]

As a warm-up, check out the FAQ at the SS group's companion webpage:

http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Newhomepage/TheForum.html

 

, "willendorfer"

<willendorfer wrote:

>

> I am new to Shakti Sadhana. My desire is to know and love Mahadevi

more deeply. Can

> anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices, e.g.

meditations with particular

> mantras and/or yantras, that are safe, effective, and appropriate

for a newby who is not

> under the guidance of a guru?

\

[Guest guest]

Yup, been doing that for the last week. What's next?

 

, "msbauju" <msbauju wrote:

>

>

> As a warm-up, check out the FAQ at the SS group's companion webpage:

> http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Newhomepage/TheForum.html

>

> , "willendorfer"

> <willendorfer@> wrote:

> >

> > I am new to Shakti Sadhana. My desire is to know and love Mahadevi

> more deeply. Can

> > anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices, e.g.

> meditations with particular

> > mantras and/or yantras, that are safe, effective, and appropriate

> for a newby who is not

> > under the guidance of a guru?

> \

>

[Guest guest]

On 9/29/06, willendorfer <willendorfer (AT) (DOT) ca> wrote:

>

>

> PS: I'm so thrilled to have found this group! I'm thrilled to know there

> are other people --

> even other men! -- out there who love the Great Goddess as much as I do,

> or more, and who

> aren't afraid to say so.

 

 

Fear.. ? Heck No... Fear, ego, are the first ones to be removed. While I

prefer to keep it to myself the path I follow ( A) there is a fine line

between stating a fact and ego. So sadhans / meditations should be kept to

ones own self.. B) In Gita it is said that there is use to telling those who

are not ready to understand , waste of time and can generate sins), but

should there be a need to mention it, I can state politely but very firmly

that I worship the Great Goddess, and that there is nothing anyone can do to

change it. At least in this life time...

 

Welcome aboard.

regards

Dp

[Guest guest]

I was referring in particular to one

of the questions on the FAQ page about

a preliminary sadhana practice:

 

http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Resource/Messageboard/FAQ.html

 

The answers (from this message board)

contain a number of suggestions,

including a reference to the Khadgamala

Stotram, which you can find here:

 

http://shaktisadhana.50megs.com/Khadgamala.html

 

, "willendorfer"

<willendorfer wrote:

>

> Yup, been doing that for the last week. What's next?

>

> , "msbauju" <msbauju@> wrote:

> >

> >

> > As a warm-up, check out the FAQ at the SS group's companion webpage:

> > http://www.shaktisadhana.org/Newhomepage/TheForum.html

> >

> > , "willendorfer"

> > <willendorfer@> wrote:

> > >

> > > [....] Can

> > > anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices, [....]

[Guest guest]

my view: ego never go till death

namasivayam

 

http://www.namashivayam.com/

[Guest guest]

meditation need no mantra/tantra

it needs nothing

but time to think

 

http://www.namashivayam.com/

 

--- willendorfer <willendorfer (AT) (DOT) ca> wrote:

 

> Let me restate my question more directly.

>

> I am new to Shakti Sadhana. My desire is to know

> and love Mahadevi more deeply. Can

> anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices,

> e.g. meditations with particular

> mantras and/or yantras, that are safe, effective,

> and appropriate for a newby who is not

> under the guidance of a guru?

>

> PS: I'm so thrilled to have found this group! I'm

> thrilled to know there are other people --

> even other men! -- out there who love the Great

> Goddess as much as I do, or more, and who

> aren't afraid to say so.

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

Dear DP:

 

I'm not sure I understand your response:

 

> So sadhans / meditations should be kept to

> ones own self..

 

I understand that in this tradition certain mantras and other teachings may only be passed

from guru to initiates, and not revealed to outsiders. I'm not asking for any secret stuff. I

just want to know if a more experienced bhakta can recommend some Shakta devotional

practices to get me started.

 

In Wicca, the Goddess-worshipping tradition in which I started out, there is often a

distinction between inner court ritual (for initiates only) and outer court ritual, which any

sincere dedicant can practise. Is there no equivalent distinction in Shakta? Surely in this

over-6000-year-old tradition, somebody has figured out how new worshippers can be

brought into the religion! In the meantime, I'm trying some meditations that I've come up

with myself; but perhaps experienced bhaktas know of more effective methods..

 

And perhaps Shakti_Saddhan.org could post a FAQ on getting started, for the benefit of

other newcomers to Shakta.

 

Jai Mata Di,

Willendorfer

[Guest guest]

, "willendorfer"

<willendorfer wrote:

>

> Yup, been doing that for the last week. What's next?

>

 

 

Did you actually take a look at the Khadgamala Devi's? Also the

Lalitha Sahasranama, which can be a very powerful meditation tool. I

like to share this conversation we had with one of our SVU guru,

hope this will give you an idea what im talking abt :

 

 

Q: Why were the Sri Lalita Sahasranama and other thousand-name hymns

composed?

 

A: Why do you think?

 

Q: I assume because it reflects what the sages discovered upon

contemplating Her?

 

A: No. Think again. Start looking at the structure. Go further. What

is the first name?

 

Q: shrI mAtA. The Mother.

 

A: But why the Mother? Whose Mother? For that you must refer back to

Lalitopakhyana [i.e. Story of the Goddess Lalita; an important text

describing the Great Goddess of Srividya Shaktism], on how Lalita

manifested Herself.

 

A: When the Devas were running away from the asura Bhanda, they

reached a hopeless situation, and they decided to do the mahaa yaga,

which is sacrificing oneself part by part and, ultimately,

completely. And they did it. And thus were all the Devas consumed by

the sacrificial fire. And from that fire arose a power - formless;

attributeless - that coalesced into Lalita, the ever playful one.

And what did she do first? She recreated the devas, thus becoming

the Mother of all Gods. Hence the name shrI mAtA.

 

Q: I see ...

 

A: Now lets take the second name, shrI mahArAjnI, the Great Empress.

How did She become that? Upon being recreated, the Devas decided

that in the coming battle they needed a leader composed of all their

powers - and that was manifest as Lalita in front of them. So they

crowned Her the Empress.

 

As the Empress, Lalita needed a consort; so Shiva became a male

Lalita - like a twin to Her in every respect, except that He was a

male He was married to Her. And they ascended the throne, and She

became the third name of LS, srImatsimhAsaneshwarI on being seated

on the throne. Thus the early part of Lalitopakhyana was compressed

into the first three names.

 

Q: And it goes on from there

 

A: Yes. Lalitopakhyana is the story of Lalita and her acts, and the

entire Lalita Sahasrama refers only to Lalitopakhyana. Because that

is the summum bonum of Lalita's story. And it goes on, answering in

turn all of our questions about Her. We wonder, Where did She

manifest from? and the fourth name reminds us, chidagnikunda

sambhootA, She was born out of the chidagni, the fire of the mind.

 

Why was She born? The fifth name tells us, Devakaarya samudbhavaa;

for the benefit of the devas.

 

What does She look like? See the sixth name: udyat bhaanu

sahasraabhaa; like the light of a thousand rising suns.

 

What are Her physical attributes? The seventh name, caturbAhu

samanwitaa; with four arms.

 

And so, on it goes ...

 

Q: So it is correct to say that these are truly not names - they are

simply descriptives.

 

A: Yes, that is what I am saying. When you understand the

Lalitopakhyana, and then stop at each name in Lalita Sahasranama and

reflect on the relevant part of Lalitopakhyana, it becomes a

meditation. You visualise the birth and acts of Lalita; She becomes

ALIVE. She manifests herself. She appears before you. The

descriptive names help you to visualise and relive her acts. It

becomes a powerful meditation. It makes you one with HER! And that's

the whole purpose of upasana. Understanding and doing it is an

upasana by itself. Hence it is called the greatest sahasranama.

 

 

You wrote again :

 

[1] "I'm so thrilled to have found this group! I'm thrilled to know

there are other people -- even other men! -- out there who love the

Great Goddess as much as I do, or more, and who

aren't afraid to say so."

 

And Im trilled to have you here with us. When I discovered Devi

Bhakta is actually a man and not a woman, it confuses me. I have

this idea [before I chatted with him and that's like abt

yeeeeeeeears ago] that worshipping the Goddess is only for women. I

asked Devi Bhakta : Why? What's the catch? * LOL * It took me a

while to really understand. And when I met Kochu and others here in

the group, it makes more sense to me as each day pass.

 

[2]"My desire is to know and love Mahadevi more deeply"

Perhaps that is why you are here. SHE herself lead you to us. SHE

have this unique way of gathering her devotees.

[Guest guest]

Dear Willwndorfer

 

On 9/30/06, willendorfer <willendorfer (AT) (DOT) ca> wrote:

>

> Dear DP:

>

> I'm not sure I understand your response:

>

> > So sadhans / meditations should be kept to

> > ones own self..

>

> I understand that in this tradition certain mantras and other teachings

> may only be passed

> from guru to initiates, and not revealed to outsiders. I'm not asking for

> any secret stuff. I

> just want to know if a more experienced bhakta can recommend some Shakta

> devotional

> practices to get me started.

 

 

I apologise for the confusion.

The line that I hand mentioned was a part of the bigger line.. let me paste

it again..

***************************************

A) there is a fine line between stating a fact and ego. So sadhans /

meditations should be kept to ones own self..

***************************************

Now this line will make sense. Just the last part stand alone will lead to

confusion. As a matter of fact there are people who are very higher/advanced

in "Sadhans" but will never utter a words as to what the do or what all they

have experianced.... Probably reasons are...

A) as explained above. EGO. Again the line is very fine, and people are so

cautions that they will not mention it,hence removing the possibility of

boasting.

B) you loose energy by telling it to others except for your "Guru Brothers"

and "Guru Sisters" and your Guru herself/himself.

 

So the above remark was not in relation to whether to help you or not, but

more whether I would say in a bunch of folks what path I follow, in general.

Off course here we talk about it more openly, as you can see, in one of my

earlier post I had mentioned it might be a good idea to chant navarna mantra

during navaratris.

 

In Wicca, the Goddess-worshipping tradition in which I started out, there is

> often a

> distinction between inner court ritual (for initiates only) and outer

> court ritual, which any

> sincere dedicant can practise. Is there no equivalent distinction in

> Shakta?

 

 

Not sure about this. Perhaps someone else can comment on this point.

 

Surely in this

> over-6000-year-old tradition, somebody has figured out how new worshippers

> can be

> brought into the religion!

 

 

This is going to be a little complex. I will try to explain. Please be

patient if I cant explain myself as English is my second language...

The problem is that no 2 persons karmic backlog is going to be the same.

Even 2 siblings, can and do have very different karmic backlog as evident by

the fact that most of the times their lives go separate way. Hence what

worked for one person may not work for someone else, or worst, prove fatal.

Thats why there are so many shastras, way, rules and regulations, traditions

inside tantra.

 

 

> In the meantime, I'm trying some meditations that I've come up

> with myself; but perhaps experienced bhaktas know of more effective

> methods.

 

 

Now meditation is fine. If thats what you want, then thats a bit easy, or

perhaps not, if you listen to what Maha has went through. But give or take

it is much easier then doing any sadhanas, which is much easier then doing

Sadhana for a "Sunkulp" (for some material wish).

Also most of my paranoia does not apply to meditations. Its more from

sadhan/anusthan point. So you can safely ignore it..

 

And perhaps Shakti_Saddhan.org could post a FAQ on getting started, for the

> benefit of

> other newcomers to Shakta.

 

 

Perhaps this is a good idea, as far as meditation is concerned. May be all

learned members here can contribute, and come to some consensus as to what

all a FAQ might have. But please do remember, it is very well possible that

it may not apply to everyone... perhaps thats why a Guru/Master is needed.

 

However some sort of simple pranayama may be a good place to start. There is

a saint in India by the name of "Baba Ramdev". Now I am not his disciple,

but he has put out some simples steps of pranayama for meditation on VCD. I

found them pertty good. While on one hand they treat different

aliments(/diseases, a lot of people have reported it) on other they will

help you in meditation. That could be a good start???

 

Hope this helps in your quest..

Jai Mata Di

Dp

 

 

Jai Mata Di,

> Willendorfer

[Guest guest]

Dear Nora:

 

Thank you, thank you, thank you! The Khadgamala Stotra is exactly the kind of practice I was hoping to find. It's so beautiful. I can't wait to get my teeth into it (once I get this font business settled so I can figure out how to pronounce the words)!

 

Thank you again.

[Guest guest]

Mantra and worship without initiation:

http://www.ambaa.org/essays/without_init.htm

 

Aum! Shanti!

 

, "willendorfer"

<willendorfer wrote:

>

> Let me restate my question more directly.

>

> I am new to Shakti Sadhana. My desire is to know and love Mahadevi

more deeply. Can

> anyone recommend "entry-level" devotional practices, e.g.

meditations with particular

> mantras and/or yantras, that are safe, effective, and appropriate

for a newby who is not

> under the guidance of a guru?

>

> PS: I'm so thrilled to have found this group! I'm thrilled to know

there are other people --

> even other men! -- out there who love the Great Goddess as much as I

do, or more, and who

> aren't afraid to say so.

>

[Guest guest]

, "willendorfer"

<willendorfer wrote:

>

> [....] Surely in this

> over-6000-year-old tradition, somebody

> has figured out how new worshippers can be

> brought into the religion! [....]

 

Hi Robert/Willendorfer,

 

I've been mulling over your statement [above]....

 

I'm no expert; I'm just a Westerner

like you who's been a member of this

egroup for a little while, so take what

I have to say with a grain of salt.

 

My best guess is that over

much of that history, the majority

of those "new worshippers" coming

to Shaktism have come from other

cults or sects within Hinduism,

not from outside of Hinduism.

In other words, I think we're

mostly (although not exclusively)

talking about a shift in emphasis,

not conversion.

 

So you may find no shortage of

texts or practices--even those

more or less labelled "introductory"--

that assume a background in Hindu

practices, vocabulary, and concepts,

or even some familiarity with Sanskrit.

 

> And perhaps Shakti_Saddhan.org

> could post a FAQ on getting started,

> for the benefit of

> other newcomers to Shakta.

 

Indeed -- DB, Kochu, and Nora have done just that;

You've already explored the FAQ on the SS website;

there's DB's Amazon booklist, and of course, the KS with

its accompanying commentary and FAQ. DB, Kochu, and Nora

have put an astonishing amount of effort into

making information available. I am impressed and

very grateful.

[Guest guest]

Hi Bauju and Robert:

 

I'd add that you shouldn't forget one very basic truth about most of

the Shakta Paths: They are traditionally secret.

 

Thus, far from "figuring out how new worshipers can be brought into

the religion," the emphasis more upon how they could be kept out. Both

the oral and textual traditions throw up loads of obstacles to keep

outsiders from understanding scripture and ritual even when they *do*

somehow stumble upon it.

 

Shaktism (indeed Hinduism as a whole) is not a compartmentalized

"religion" in the Western sense. It is a lifestyle.

 

And unlike Christianity and Islam, the Shakta paths have very little

interest in recruiting new worshipers. Thus you have the oft-heard

adage, "The the student is ready, the Guru appears."

 

If Devi has decided She wants you in Her fold, you are going to be in

Her fold whether you like it or not. All means and motivations will be

provided (good luck!). If She does not feel you are ready, no amount

of effort will win entry until Her grace is obtained.

 

aim mAtangyai namaH

 

 

, "msbauju" <msbauju wrote:

>

> , "willendorfer"

> <willendorfer@> wrote:

> >

> > [....] Surely in this

> > over-6000-year-old tradition, somebody

> > has figured out how new worshippers can be

> > brought into the religion! [....]

>

> Hi Robert/Willendorfer,

>

> I've been mulling over your statement [above]....

>

> I'm no expert; I'm just a Westerner

> like you who's been a member of this

> egroup for a little while, so take what

> I have to say with a grain of salt.

>

> My best guess is that over

> much of that history, the majority

> of those "new worshippers" coming

> to Shaktism have come from other

> cults or sects within Hinduism,

> not from outside of Hinduism.

> In other words, I think we're

> mostly (although not exclusively)

> talking about a shift in emphasis,

> not conversion.

>

> So you may find no shortage of

> texts or practices--even those

> more or less labelled "introductory"--

> that assume a background in Hindu

> practices, vocabulary, and concepts,

> or even some familiarity with Sanskrit.

>

> > And perhaps Shakti_Saddhan.org

> > could post a FAQ on getting started,

> > for the benefit of

> > other newcomers to Shakta.

>

> Indeed -- DB, Kochu, and Nora have done just that;

> You've already explored the FAQ on the SS website;

> there's DB's Amazon booklist, and of course, the KS with

> its accompanying commentary and FAQ. DB, Kochu, and Nora

> have put an astonishing amount of effort into

> making information available. I am impressed and

> very grateful.

>

[Guest guest]

Aw, shucks ...

 

Thanks, J., you're not so bad yourself. ;-)

 

, "msbauju" <msbauju wrote:

 

> DB, Kochu, and Nora

> have put an astonishing amount of effort into

> making information available. I am impressed and

> very grateful.

>